MURDOCH DAY 2025 TAKES PLACE IN THE HISTORIC TOWN CENTRE OF REDRUTH ON SATURDAY 7 JUNE 2025. THIS MUCH-LOVED EVENT IS FULL OF ACTIVITIES AND ENTERTAINMENT AS THE TOWN CELEBRATES ITS FAMOUS INVENTING SON…
Camborne has Trevithick Day in April and its sister town Redruth has Murdoch Day in June. This is the law. Both annual events pay tribute to these Cornish towns’ favourite sons who both changed the world in their day. And both annual events are fun, action-packed and a grand way to pay respect to those people who helped make these towns what they are today.
Murdoch Day 2025 pays tribute to inventor William Murdoch, a Scottish engineer who made Redruth his home and left an indelible mark on the town and the wider world. He famously pioneered gas lighting, replacing oil and tallow with coal gas, forever changing the way homes, streets, and workplaces were illuminated. His home on Cross Street became the first in the country to be lit by gas lighting in 1792, an innovation that laid the foundation for modern gas lighting and street illumination globally.
Beyond his revolutionary lighting developments, Murdoch was instrumental in early steam-powered transport, building a prototype steam carriage long before locomotives became widespread. His work at Boulton & Watt saw him play a crucial role in improving steam engines, making them more efficient and influential in the Industrial Revolution. His impact on Redruth extended beyond engineering—he helped drive the town’s innovation and status as a hub of industrial progress in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
There’s really nothing quite like Murdoch Day, which is entirely devoted to marking the legacy of Murdoch’s great gas light innovation. The event, which takes place throughout the day on Saturday 7 June 2025, is also dedicated to celebrating Redruth’s long and rich history, as well as championing all the good things that are happening around town in the modern day.
This is perhaps the town’s biggest day of the year that celebrates history and heritage alongside community. Expect an array of family-friendly events and entertainment across Redruth throughout the day in the town centre, with parades, open-air dances, steam engine rallies, live music, street markets, craft fairs, and much more. Schoolchildren in traditional dress lead the Murdoch Day Parade, a spectacle that winds through the town with music, dancing, and historical storytelling, culminating in a celebration of Redruth’s industrial past.
Visitors can explore heritage exhibitions that showcase Murdoch’s contributions, as well as displays on Redruth’s role in Cornwall’s mining and engineering heritage. The event brings together local artisans, historians, performers, and food vendors to create a vibrant festival atmosphere that pays tribute to the town’s proud past while looking towards its bright future.
Get illuminated at Murdoch Day 2025. And have a top time too as Redruth toasts the man who made it great. Or, at least, gave it a great historical claim to fame that will resonate through the ages.